Media

Last Wednesday?s Champions League match between Manchester United and Fiorentina attracted 10 million viewers - or 43% of the national audience - for the UK?s commercial terrestrial channel, ITV.

German media company EM.TV is poised to take a 50% stake worth #1.2bn in Formula One motor racing, according to the UK?s Sunday Business newspaper.

Sportsworld Media Group has integrated its SSM Freesports within the group and appointed a new commercial head of its media division.

Australian Defence Minister John Moore has denied local media speculation that U.S. President Bill Clinton had decided not to attend the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games because of security concerns.

Galaxy Latin America has signed a deal to broadcast the Ultimate Fighting Championship to Latin America and the Caribbean on its satellite service DirecTV

Online gaming company VIP is calling for global self-regulation of the online betting industry and the creation of a new forum to promote consultation between governments and industry members.

Newsweek has signed with ISL Worldwide as an inaugural presenting partner for the Tennis Masters Series, the elite series on the ATP Tour.

On the day that Prisma Sport& Media announced its telephone-based joint venture with The Fantastic Corporation, Sportal.com has launched a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) service to deliver breaking sports news.

X-Dream International has announced it is to change its name to Extreme International Ltd and revealed the formation of a new holding company.

Cable company, NTL, plans to acquire a 9.9% stake in Premier League Middlesbrough F.C according to the Guardian newspaper.

Littlewoods, the UK leisure and retail group, has launched an online gaming and betting site. Bet247 will offer betting on traditional horse racing and other sports, as well as the football pools. It will also take bets on statistics in a tie-up with Sky Sports.

Prisma Sports & Media has launched a joint venture with The Fantastic Corporation to deliver sports content to mobile phones in a move which, they say, will change the sports environment forever.

Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour has predicted victory for South Africa in the fight to stage the 2006 World Cup finals, claiming: "We have 98 percent of the bid approval in the bag."

Australian broadcaster the Seven Network Ltd has said its pay-TV unit C7 is to take a stake in digital broadband services provider Access1 Ltd as part of a content alliance.

Quokka Sports, a provider of online sports entertainment, has launched The Quokka Sports Affiliate Programme. The programme is intended to increase the reach of the Quokka Sports Network and extend the Quokka brand to new audiences. It is also designed to drive sales to Quokka's online stores.

The future of the British Open squash championships, which came near being abandoned more than once in the last few years because of the scarcity of sponsors, has been made secure by a deal between the Squash Rackets Association and Fablon Investments.